ok i have seriously been searching for the answer to this question for weeks, no lie. trust me when i say i do my research, but every single place i read, people just say flush for the last two weeks and harvest when 25-50% trichomes are amber... BUT NO ONE has been able to say what the trichomes should look like when its time to FLUSH, not when its time to harvest. yes i know exactly when to harvest. however SWIM is growing a crop of trainwrecks, grand daddys, a grape ape, a blue dream, a green crack. he needs to know what to look for in the TRICHOMES so he can know when to FLUSH (NOT HARVEST) since there is such a variance between sativas and indicas!! Thanks for any help! its been impossible to find the answer to this question....

Trichome University

Here is one post on Trichs....but the question you are asking is different for each variety. Some show cloudie then take another 3 weeks to finish. Some show cloudy and then the next day you will see amber. I would suggest when the majority of the trichs are cloudy, then it is aprox. 2 weeks until you start seeing half amber.

Here is also a post on flushing....I hope it helps you.

To Flush or not to Flush

Good luck! and I hope this helps.

And welcome to GreenPassion!

Peace

__________________
Life,
j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

My Little Grow Indoor To Outdoor 2009

I personally go by TIME. If I'm at 6 weeks on a 8 week strain I'm gonna wait 2 weeks no matter what the trichs look like.

I secondly consider if the plant has shown it is "slowing down". If it has and i'm in the "time' frame stated by the breeder that it takes to flower this particular strain out...I will start flushing.

TRICHS are last for me. My overall sensitivity to "clear vs. amber" is nil. I've seen 8 week plants go 12 weeks and never go 50% amber. Again...i try to judge ALL factors.

Most of the time it seems I'm good if I grow an 8 weeker for 8 weeks and then flush it for 7-10 days.

everyone sees it differently and that is why you may not find a DEFINITE answer anywhere!

good luck

ww

thank you both! do you ever go by pistil browning? some of the grand daddys are 50 days in now, but frost-wise they are nowhere near the grape ape or trainwreck. however there are just as many brown pistils on the GDPs as there are on the grape ape.. it also seems like the trichomes are cloudier on the GDPs already.

Different types rippen at different rates. Also, always remember that any seedbank gives the estimate for time of harvest from growing under OPTIMUM conditions. This could be under a 1000w light, with perfect air control, soil etc. I don't know more than a few growers that ever achieve that. But we try. And also growing outdoors is never consistent. One day cloudy, the next half sunny, rain for the rest, etc. So use the time until harvest as a suggestion. Not always a hard and fast rule. It is a plant after all, so there are many variables.

I don't know about pistols, sorry. That is somewhat old school, from what I know. I have always used trichs. Even though trichs on some types can also be ready, but only just cloudy and will be way over done if they ever do turn amber. So it is a matter of learning about your variety, and adjusting to where YOU like it with some.

Peace

__________________
Life,
j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

My Little Grow Indoor To Outdoor 2009

good post, i have been thinking about the same sorta issue for the last few weeks....
Watson, are you saying that you let them grow for the entire flowering cycle, THEN flush for another week? I was always under the impression that you including the flush time in the optimum growing time. ie: I am growing a 9 week strawberry cough. So would u actually leave it in flowerinf for about 10 weeks (including the flush?)

Thanx,
P4L

EDIT: that post from jangle is GREAT!!! thanx for the help.

That is what *I* do, philly. 8 week strain = 8 weeks + the flush.

I do this because I feel that the majority of bud density usually happens around week 5-7 on an 8 week strain. I do a 7-10 day flush...so if i didn't wait until week 8 I'd actually be starting to flush in the middle of week 6....prime time for growth, not for "winding down", IMO.

On top of that...I've had "8 week* strains that took 10 weeks to stop growing! Being TOO rigid isn't good, IMO....and a good grower (IMO) will let the plant tell them when it's time...not the breeder. Such info, as jangel points out..is for optimum conditions...or..what the breeder feels is optimum. EVERY garden is different though... so I still believe it is best to only use such info as a guidleine...and not "gospel".

I have a "fortune" posted in my growroom from a fortune cookie I opened many, many years ago. It reads simply :

"Patience is a Virtue".

Such wisdom is always a good measure to live by when growing this plant, IMO.

ww

nicely put watson...i think your reasoning has convinced me and I am going to do it like that. Thanx for the help.

Right on, philly. Try it...I think you'll see that you'll end up with a very smoothe product that has reached it's full potential.

Take no bud before it's time!

best of luck

ww